Marcos to DTI: Explain high prices of goods

SENATOR Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wants the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to explain why the prices of basic commodities remain high despite a series of oil price rollbacks in the country.

“There is a tremendously huge decrease in the prices of oil especially diesel which affects the transportation and production costs of many of the manufacturing and retail sectors, but we have yet to see a substantial reduction in the prices of commodities. The DTI should look at this and explain to us,” the senator said.

The independent vice presidential candidate noted that compared to the prices of petroleum products in 2014, the present price of fuel is much lower and should have resulted in the decrease of the prices of basic commodities.

Based on the Energy department’s price monitoring report, retail prices of petroleum products in January 2014 ranged highest from P50.30 per liter to P55.45 per liter for gasoline and P42.10 per liter to P46.50 per liter for diesel.

“Just last Monday, oil companies announced another round of an oil price rollback which put diesel prices in the range between P20.40 and P23.80 per liter while gasoline prices range from P33.30 to P40.75 per liter,” he said.

Marcos noted that despite the imposition of Suggested Retail Price (SRP) tags on basic commodities and other goods, prices are still not commensurate with the reduced oil prices.

“There should be more transparency on how our goods are priced and it should be the DTI that should take the lead in this because inflation is still the main concern of our countrymen. The glaring reality is that they are still having a hard time coping up with the high prices of commodities,” the senator concluded.

Marcos also cited the latest Pulse Asia survey showing inflation remains to be the top concern and the most urgent national issue for majority of Filipinos spanning all socio-economic groups.